I put 15.00 in my car yesterday at 3.47/gallon. Cheapest I've seen in awhile. I'm gassing up a few times a week as we live 14 miles from major stores. We are taking a trip back home up to NY this month to visit family and friends and I'm just dreading the gas cost.

We've made several big changes in how we spend our money to help offset the rising costs of both gas and food. We no longer go out as much to the mall for example when we're bored on a weekend with nothing to do since we always ended up spending some money :-).. We don't go out to eat anymore. The next time we will go out to eat is for our 4th wedding anniversary on the 16th which is a special occasion and it's already been close to a month that we've been to a restaurant. That was a big change for us not eating out or getting fast food and saves about 200 to 300 bucks a month. I have switched drastically to store brands when grocery shopping. My husband lives less than a mile from his job so no worries really there, he is talking about bicycling to work though for exercise now since he does need to lose about 50 pounds now. There is some concern about him bicycling since we do live in a small city but it is not made for pedestrians at all and the public transportation is just now starting to get off the ground but with very long waits for the buses so it's not up to par yet for us. Hopefully it will improve in the coming years and I will use it since I find driving to be stressful at times. But I however have to commute about 25 minutes to go to college classes and since I'm going back full time this coming summer and will be going every single day as opposed to only twice a week like I am now I'm sure I'll be going from filling up every two weeks to once a week. When I got my honda civic almost 7 years ago it only cost me 14 dollars to fill up if it was completely empty almost and now it's close to 40 dollars. My car is 12 years old and I hope to keep it for another 2 years but I will not be "upgrading" my vehicle to a fancier/bigger one when I need to buy another one like a lot of my college friends have been doing once they graduated. I would not be surprised if I just buy another honda civic or the hybrid since my mom has one and I like it. But the rising prices are starting to affect us somewhat as well, I have had to cut down on my visits to my sick mother who lives about 30 minutes away and I just call her a lot more but it's not the same. Fortunately since we were already tightening our belts to help pay off debt faster back in September I was prepared since I did notice some signs of rising costs before my husband did since he does not do the grocery shopping :-). But if costs continue to rise I do not know what other changes we can make since we've already made some drastic changes so that is a bit worrisome for me.

In my work, construction, I may be close to home or drive over 200 miles a day, although generally if it is over 100 miles we stay. I have been putting around $150.00 in my tank each week lately...we carpool as much we can...the good thing...my boss pays for my gas!

Angie's school is only 3 miles away...she would walk it every day if she didn't have to carry her lunch and materials.

I read in the Los Angeles times the other day that We...Americans...are not complaining enough....have we just resigned to the fact that we can't do anything about it?

My brother and I get our gas paid for...we take as many as the guys with us that we can each day.

$3.65 in Southern Maine
$4.35 on Cape Cod MA, just in time for the tourist season...

I also work from home, so I spend very little time driving. That being said, I still walk the mile roundtrip to the grocery store. If I have to go out, I combine trips. My partner walks to and from work when at all possible - exercise for her, gas savings for us, plus it eliminates potential parking tickets.

Almost all the miles we put on our car are for longer-range trips - in town we just walk. I'm becoming quite a walker!

I live in the boonies too, Ruth. Practically nothing within walking distance.

That's interesting Jen. Around here, I haven't gotten the impression that people are near the breaking point. Surprisingly, it seems like few people are making many changes. :shrug:

Yep, we've decided that there won't be any driving vacations (or flying either for that matter) for us this summer.

Mindi,We got a new car last year just so that we could get something more fuel efficient. I'm so glad we did that!

Zen, That's fantastic. Our little town is VERY unfriendly to bikes. You're practically taking your life in your hands to get on the road on a bike. :moped:

$3.39 here and people hare having kittens about it.
Work is about 4 miles away, and the gym is about 1 (in the other direction) so we don't drive much. we have no public trasportation and there is no talk of it for the future (so says the city) and our town has no bike lanes. Not that I would bike to work at 9:30 at night with idiot drivers all over the place.

I am looking forward to buying my first car. I've been saving up for it for over a year. I'm going to get a hybred. not so much because of the price of gas (but that is becoming a good part of it ) but because of the enviorment.

We do a lot of internet shopping for things we can't find in our tiny town. The nearest city is almost 200 miles away and that's really out of the question with my car.

I kinda like the irony that we're starting to pay the same as the rest of the world. I wonder if I'm going to see more people on little scooters zipping around town.
Fat girl on a tiny scooter... @_@ bad idea. I'll stick with my little Yaris.

Haha, My husband HAD to get a motorcycle after Katrina came through here and gas was so hard to find for a few weeks. He had sold his years before and had regretted it ever since then. He finally sold me on the idea of a motorcyle after hearing about how much gas he would save. Of course, who knew he would fall and injure his knee later that year and not ride his motorcycle since then.

We will be spending our summer at home too!

That is lucky!

Yikes!

That really cuts into the budget, doesn't it!

I have to admit that even when I lived in areas that at least offered some public transportation, I seldom used it. This was back in the late 80s, and gas prices weren't an issue. I'm sure it is quite a change for DH. That's an interesting point that we are having to pay what others have been having to pay for years.

It dropped from 3.79 down to 3.61 today here. Boy am i glad.. i will be travelling real soon.

I just put myself on the major S$$T list at work for telling the company president that we didn't like them changing our shift start time to one that put us all in traffic. I live fairly close to work compared to 75% of the people I work with, yet I'm filling my tank earlier in the week.

Also, one of my coworkers and I are going to carpool. I'll drive and he'll pay since it's easier for me to pick him up because of location. I don't like carpooling because I work in a so-called man's job and I don't like rumors. This guy is pretty good though. I gave him a ride when his car was broke down and we decided it was worth it to save the money. There is no means of pub-trans to the job. Heck, I know of a couple of other guys I just so happen to have followed to work a few times, and I might see if they want to quadruple up. That would also help quell any stupid rumors from flying.

P.S. Gas here is "only" $3.36/gal. And, as a little girl, I can remember my parents paying $.29/gal. I remember it being between $.50 and $.75/gal when I started driving. I got a $5.00 allowance and that was plenty for my car. When I got my job at 16 my $3.25 minimum wage at 15-20 hrs. a week made me a "rich chick".